DefianceNovels

Chapter 1,025.

"Fine," Zac smiled. "You get 60% if we both reach the trove."

"Don't forget the finder's fee," Kruta grinned.

"Are you trying to lead me into the lion's den before scurrying back to safety?" Zac said with a raised brow.

"No, but I know my limits. I'll do what I can, but this isn't a war for the survival of my tribe," Kruta said, his eyes thinning as he looked at Zac. "But you, you have that madness in your eyes. The madness that will lead you to greatness or ruin. I'm bettin...

Chapter 1,024.

Zac was about to share his prepared excuse, but he sighed and shook his head before leading Catheya into his study.

"It's nothing much. My senses are just telling me someone is targeting me. I just got the Fate-augmenting prayer beads, and they only made me more certain."

"Target you? Who?" Catheya frowned. "Nerven Serku? Didn't he enter seclusion last year?"

"It could be him, but I don't think so. He never really cared about his followers and only made some trouble to save ...

Chapter 1,023.

It was a shame [Cosmic Infusion] didn't work when you wanted to extract the essence of Natural Treasures for his personal use. Instead, Zac opted to rely on his tried and true method of cramming things down his gullet. It hadn't failed him yet.

Zac wound the stalk around the mushroom before cramming it into his mouth. An explosion of three distinct flavors greeted him; an earthy yet delicious flavor from the mushroom, a minty taste from the stalk, and iron from his mout...

Chapter 1,022.

Zac was curious about his haul, but one thing took precedence. He closed his eyes and started scanning his body for any wrongness. Occasionally, Zac activated [Void Zone] for a minute before turning it off. He'd even start the first stance of the third layer of [Void Vajra Sublimation].

He'd seen just how deadly the secrets kept within the ghost temples were, and Zac knew he'd cheated by the end. With how abruptly everything ended, Zac wondered if he'd ...

Chapter 1,021.

Zac's first entry into the hostile Red Zones was the Imperial Spire. The incredibly high mountain had seemed like a perfect place to start his collection of items. Even then, he had found himself at an impasse after pushing himself close to the peak. The final 2,500 meters were impossible to climb, at least for Zac, who lacked a Dao of Gravity.

So he started looking for a treasure at the maximum altitude he could stomach. But even after 16 days, he had come up empty-handed except for a ...

Today's chapter delayed until tomorrow.

Sorry about the inconvenience 

Chapter 1,020.

"This is the one," Zac muttered, pushing away the unsettling sense of doom as he picked up the withered branch with his free hand.

The Omnitool in his other transformed from its standard rock pick into a scalpel axe. He still lacked six of the seventeen peaks, but he'd found that the tool could already be used for half an hour before it needed to be returned. It was enough for his practice. He could have used the artisanal axes as well, but why bother?

The Omnitool wasn't just a g...

Chapter 1,019.

IMPORTANT CHANGE:

I generally try to avoid doing retroactive changes to the story, but sometimes you have just pull the trigger and change the past. I have decided to make some changes to chapter 981 (the chapter where Null first explains some rules of the Perennial Vastness), some of which have cascading effects.

For one, I am fixing (removing) the description of the Quarry. I had actually forgotten I had described the Quarry there when I properl...

Chapter 1,018.

The cold no longer felt as invasive as Catheya led Zac toward one of the outermost pagodas.

"This region is called Tears of Belsim," Catheya said. "According to legend—"

"What legend?" Zac said with confusion. "Was this a part of the empire before?"

"How could it be? You know, there is a lot of information in the libraries. Maybe if you stopped swinging your axe for a moment..." Catheya smiled.

"I've been planning to get around to those scrolls," Zac coughed.

"...

Chapter 1,017.

[Mana: 18,953]

Zac looked at the line appreciatively. Less than two months had passed since arriving, yet he was already approaching the third echelon. He was more than a year ahead of schedule, giving him much more leeway. Better yet, the Mana was only a cherry on top of his real gain—[Cosmic Forge]. And now, a final windfall waited for him.

"Alright, buddy, you've squeezed Mana out of all of us. Time to get this show on the road," the barbaria...

Chapter 1,016.

Zac's heart beat with anticipation as he picked up the inlaid tome. Unsurprisingly, its pages were filled with the unfamiliar scripts of the First People. Of course, they were no longer unfamiliar, thanks to the seal in his mind.

'Solevur opened her eyes and gazed upon an endless void. She was the first of the first, the originator of all.'

Zac read the first couple of pages and soon realized its contents had nothing to do with Dasorm or his creation. Neither was it a ski...

Chapter 1,015.

The firefly sun had turned into a storm that engulfed the whole building, even dragging the flames out of the braziers by the walls. Zac stood in its center, pick hammer in his hand as he looked around with wonder. The billions of fireflies created dazzling patterns that kept changing in incredibly complex ways. Just like he'd sensed before, there were truths hidden in their movements.

An impartment.

As the fireflies danced, a seal started to appear inside his soul aperture. It fo...

Chapter 1,014.

"You're playing a dangerous game," Lova commented as they looked down at the children.

He'd just absorbed the last of the keys, which would trigger the summoning. A powerful force was building within his body, but it wasn't enough to obscure the raging storm of fate around the child. It was shielded using some unconventional means, but the obfuscation wouldn't work properly, what with their master being the Heavens in this realm.

"So what?" Engo grinned, his gaze turning to the sk...

Chapter 1,013

"You hear that? This lunatic is cheering you on," Ogras sighed. "You have to understand that's not a good sign."

"As I've said, I'm not going crazy. It's just those visions overloading my brain," Zac said with a roll of his eyes. "Let's go. I want to deal with this before my head explodes. Of course, if you feel this is a waste of time, you can always head back."

Truthfully, Zac wasn't sure Ogras had much to gain from a Void-related Inheritance. Of course, there was a chance there...

Chapter 1,012

Innumerable broken fragments floated in the air, locked in orbit by the immense energy fluctuations and inherent gravity of the vast ancestral platform. Below, the fractures of broken space swirled, forming a vortex as vast as reality itself. The two were locked in an ancient struggle akin to a predator and its faltering prey. By this point, the platform was like a dying man with one foot through the door to the beyond, desperately resisting fate.

A whole civilization sat atop the ancie...

Chapter 1,011.

Zac checked everything was in order before stepping through the teleporter. He had returned to his human appearance for this excursion. He wasn't worried about being attacked—the Quarry was a green zone, after all. But Arcaz Umbri'Zi had created too many enmities in the short run since he'd arrived.

If someone spotted him walking around in the Quarry, there was a real risk of people coming over to annoy and distract him while looking for treasure. And he didn't want any strangers arou...

No chapter today

Sorry, I know this is a frustrating post to see just as we're supposed to get back on regular schedule. But have to take today off for health reasons.

We should be back tomorrow.

Chapter 1,010.

Zac calmly looked at the smiling vampire, but his Dao was already coursing through his [Thousand Lights Avatar]. He'd unleash [Void Zone] at the slightest energy fluctuations and kill as many as he could before they had the chance to react to having their energy and Dao nullified.

"Relax," Ysaya said with a helpless shake of her head. "Why does it feel like I just had a brush with the eternal slumber? We're not here to take what you've found, even if we...

Chapter 1,009.

The air screamed, and a series of explosions ripped open a set of new wounds before Zac's blood calmed the storm in his immediate vicinity. He was almost dragged to the sky, but he quickly took out his bar of [Nightlbight Alloy] to anchor himself to the ground. The huge block was twisted and bent, with most of its spirituality gone. The environment and collisions had already damaged it to the point that it had depreciated half a grade.

It should last him until he left t...

Defiance of the Fall Book 8 now out on Amazon!

Hey hey,

Book 8 of Defiance of the Fall is now out on Amazon/Kindle Unlimited! Book 8 starts in Twilight Harbor, and it launches one of the all-time fan-favorite arcs.

The Twilight Ocean holds unfathomable treasures, but you need strength to seize them...

Book 8 is also the first book where we've revamped the editing process with the goal to improve flow and read...

Chapter 1,008.

'What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?' Kalva's frantic voice rattled in Uthar's mind. 'This guy is too dangerous.'

Uthar's face was calm, but his heart drummed as he looked on as the severed link of the insane Draugr's coffin floated into the man's hand. Uthar realized he knew far too little about these undead creatures and their means. He only knew the Draugr was one of the leaders of the distant Undead Empire. But so what? They were the scions of an equally powerful faction...

Chapter 1,007.

The group of four made no move to attack, and the two sides wordlessly looked at each other for a few seconds until the leader of the new arrivals spoke up.

"You are the Draugr who has been making waves over the past month," the man smiled, his eyes turning to the box in Zac's hand. "That thing…"

"Is mine," Zac cut him off.

"Ownership is dependent on strength," one of the mountain man's companions said, and Zac's eyes thinned upon sensing the powerful spiritual fluctuation...

Chapter 1,006.

A huge gust passed by overhead, leaving behind a curtain of explosions. A boulder the size of a skyscraper fell in the distance, piercing through the budding storm and enraging it even further. A moment later, the winds had reached Zac, who pushed the chains of [Love's Bond] into the ground to avoid getting swept away.

A deadly storm was descending on the region, this one an even mix of life and death. Explosions of both elements lit up the sky, and visibility worsened ...

Chapter 1,005

It seemed like the weight of the whole Calamity Mountain bore down on Zac's shoulders as he continued his climb. His arms strained from the pressure, and he would already have been thrown back to the bottom of the chute if not for the help of both Vivi and Alea.

He wasn't sure if it was the treasure itself or the crack it fell out of that generated the overwhelming gravity domain, but nothing seemed to work against it. Even [Void Zone] only weakened it a bit, at the cos...

Chapter 1,004.

A/N 2023-03-30: Chapter 1/2 of today (doing a double chapter release today. Next one in an hour or two.

For next month, normal release schedule, except no chapters April 12-14.

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Rivers of energy poured down the walls of the Storm Chamber, their density far beyond anything Zac had seen since entering the Calamity. Yet, an almost deafening silence had replaced the roar of the storm. Zac could tell some mysteriou...

Defiance of the Fall Book 8 now out on Audible.

Sometimes life throws you curveballs. Curveballs like Audible messing up your pre-order and just release your next book over 3 weeks ahead of schedule. On New Year's Eve, when there is no personnel available to fix the error.

So surprise to all of us! Defiance of the Fall Book 8 is now out on Audible. 

Listen here!

Welcome the new year in the best way possible; shutting your...

Chapter 1,003.

Unbridled destructive urges and mad exuberance fought for dominion as a set of remnants squeezed out from the crack in their prison. Accompanying them was a storm of accumulated energies that had yet been filtered by the profound patterns crafted by Be'Zi and the System.

Yet, when the second set of remnants attempted to follow in their wake, a nine-layered gate appeared to seal them inside. Conflict, Life, and Death, three by three by three, bolstered by an unyielding heart and an immen...

No chapter today + Schedule update

UPDATE 12-22

Thought I had it, then the fever came back. I managed to write a decent chunk at least. Tomorrow will(should) be a release, and I'll do another one before year-end.

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UPDATE 12-21

Still sick, but getting a bit better. I hope to release a chapter tomorrow.

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UPDATE 12-20

Unfor...